Political funding must come under RTI: Manohar Parrikar

Parrikar, who had last year caused flutters in the party with his remark
that the 2002 post-Godhra riots in Gujarat were a blot on Narendra
Modi's career, deftly fielded several questions on what he now though
about the BJP's PM candidate.

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In the first clear call being made by a politician on a highly contentious issue, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parikkar has said he was bringing funding for political parties under RTI. Appearing on the Right To Be Heard Townhall debate on Headlines Today, Parikkar, a no-nonsense politician with a clean image, said the income source of political parties can be brought under scrutiny. "I support political parties being brought under RTI in a restrictive way. I don't agree internal party matters must be in public domain, but funding should be. I am a big supporter of RTI, '' Parikkar said. The BJP Chief Minister's comments are significant since all parties have ruled out coming under the RTI ambit. But Parrikar refused to be drawn into giving a reaction on Arvind Kejriwal's demand that the BJP muist come clean on who was funding Narendra Modi.

Parrikar, who had last year caused flutter in the party with his remark that the 2002 post-Godhra riots in Gujarat were a blot on Narendra Modi's career, deftly fielded several questions on what he now thought about the BJP's PM candidate. To a question on why Modi was not still apologising for the way the Gujarat riots were handled, Parrikkar said: "You should ask Modi. But he's pained by it. Whether he should apologise, that depends on the temperament of a person. I don't think he needs to apologise."

Asked how he would have handled the situation had the riots taken place in Goa, Parrikar said "If a similar situation would have happened here, I would have acted on it.". But Parrikar added that 12 years have passed and people learn from past experiences. Modi is an able administrator and there is no law or order problem now.

Parikkar also said Modi was not dictatorial but assertive. And he was sure that as the scope of his role expanded, Modi would be more consultative in nature on issues. And in a tongue-in-cheek comment on Modi, Parrikar said "He's a good learner. He has picked up from the Goa model." The Goa model being that the BJP government is not seen as one with a Hindutva agenda. Parrikar said Modi has now become more attractive to even minorities because of his learning from the Goa model. Asked if Modi was wooing industry by saying he was in favour of equal competition, Parrikar said there was no question of a BJP re-think on FDI in retail.

He defended Modi for not appearing before the media, saying "He's busy connecting with the people now, and when he will give an interview it won't be like Rahul Gandhi's."

When asked about his views on Arvind Kejriwal, another ex-IITian who became Chief Minister even if it was for 49 days, Parrikar said "Dreams don't become a reality unless you have executive abilities. My personal opinion is that had the BJP announced Harsh Vardhan four weeks before it actually made him CM candidate, the party would have got at least 40 seats."

The Goa Chief Minister denied that he had taken special interest in the Tarun Tejpal case. "I didn't take centre stage on the Tejpal case. I don't interfere with police work. I only told police that don't get influenced by anyone. If a highly place media personality does something wrong then the punishment should be quick and harsh."